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134-674: The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia , the later Kingdom of Prussia . After the Thirty Years' War , the province consisted of Farther Pomerania . Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land , Draheim , and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province. The province was succeeded by the Province of Pomerania set up in 1815. The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more meaning

268-612: A de facto province of the Prussian kingdom. Although Frederick was still only an elector within the portions of his domain that were part of the empire, he only acknowledged the emperor's overlordship over them in a formal way. In the mid-16th century, the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the estates (counts, lords, knights and towns, no prelates due to the Protestant Reformation in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income as well as

402-698: A "large grove". It is unclear which of the tribes documented in the area the population belonged to, the Veleti / Lutici or Rani . In 1123/24, prince Henry of the Obodrites used the stronghold as a stepping stone in his campaign against the Rani. In 1128, after the Pomeranian duke Wartislaw I had subdued the area, the Wends were baptized by Otto of Bamberg on his second Pomeranian mission, while Wartislaw

536-492: A Danish bridgehead until either 1241/43 or 1250. On the mainland opposite to island with the castle, a new planned town was built in the course of the Ostsiedlung . It is not known when exactly this city of Wolgast was granted German town law , though its existence is confirmed by a letter written in or before 1259. The original charter was issued by both Pomeranian dukes of the time, Wartislaw III and Barnim I , and

670-626: A Prussian corps with a significant Pomeranian share, had left the coalition with France in the Convention of Tauroggen of 30 December 1812, the Prussian military called the Pomeranians to arms in February 1813. Also in February, Russian troops reached Farther Pomerania . In March, all French forces left Pomerania , except for Stettin, which was held by the French until 5 December 1813. After

804-835: A baroque ceremony in Königsberg Castle . On 28 January, Augustus the Strong congratulated Frederick, yet not as Polish king, but as Saxon elector. In February, Denmark–Norway accepted Frederick's elevation in hope of an ally in the Great Northern War , and the Tsardom of Russia likewise approved in 1701. Most princes of the Holy Roman Empire followed. Charles XII of Sweden accepted Frederick as Prussian king in 1703. In 1713, France and Spain also accepted Frederick's royal status. The coronation

938-461: A church. The thesis that this first church was a predecessor of today's St. Peter's church has not yet been confirmed. Wolgast was made the seat of a Pomeranian castellany , and played an important role in the 12th-century warfare between Pomeranians, Rani and the Danes. In 1162, Wolgast was targeted by an allied Danish-Rani fleet, and temporarily had to accept Danish suzerainty. In 1164, in

1072-757: A clause of subjection of the chiefs to Frederick William's overlordship and an agreement allowing Brandenburg-Prussia to establish a fort, and is thus regarded the beginning of the Brandenburg-Prussian colonial era. To facilitate the colonial expeditions, the Brandenburg African Company was founded on 7 March 1682, initially with its headquarters in Berlin and its shipyards in Pillau , since 1683 in Emden . Throughout its existence,

1206-610: A confirmation of the Lübeck law was issued in 1282 by duke Bogislaw IV . Wolgast was residence of the Pomeranian dukes from 1285 until the ruling House of Pomerania became extinct in 1637. Capital of Pomerania-Wolgast , a longtime inner partition of the duchy, Wolgast Castle was built as a residential palace in Renaissance style on an island hence called Castle Island . The ducal line of Pomerania-Wolgast became extinct when Philipp Julius died without issue. During

1340-560: A counter-offensive, pursuing the retreating Swedish forces through Swedish Pomerania . Polish king John III Sobieski planned to restore Polish suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia, and for this purpose concluded an alliance with France on 11 June 1675. France promised assistance and subsidies, while Sobieski in turn allowed French recruitment in Poland-Lithuania and promised to aid Hungarian rebel forces who were to distract

1474-614: A decorative purpose, but was regarded a necessity to prevail in political competition. Though Frederick III held the elevated status of a prince elector , this status was also gained by Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1623, during the Thirty Years' War , also by the Elector of the Palatinate in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and by Ernest Augustus of the House of Hanover in 1692. Thus,

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1608-489: A food shortage followed. The Swedish forces left Kolberg and were replaced by Brandenburgian troops on 6 June 1653. Three days later, the prince elector called the nobility to assemble at a Landtag in Stargard , that constituted on 19 July 1654, to decide on the further administrative system of the province. The Landtag decrees along with a constitution ("Regimentsverfassung") were issued on 11 July 1654. Kolberg

1742-404: A house's cost if they built it with fire-proof material, and vacant residential areas were granted rent free to those willing to erect buildings. There were also cases where those building a house were granted free citizenship, were exonerated from garrison duties, or were given the necessary timber for free. Also, public buildings were renewed or built new by the Prussian administration. Swamps in

1876-480: A navy and colonies during the reign of Frederick William. The "Great Elector" had spent part of his childhood at the Pomeranian court and port cities of Wolgast (1631–1633) and Stettin (1633–1635), and afterwards studied at the Dutch universities of Leyden and The Hague (1635–1638). When Frederick William became elector in 1640, he invited Dutch engineers to Brandenburg, sent Brandenburgian engineers to study in

2010-586: A second stroke in 1619, aged 47. From 1619 to 1640, George William was elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia. He strove, but proved unable to break the dominance of the Electorate of Saxony in the Upper Saxon Circle . The Brandenburg-Saxon antagonism rendered the defense of the circle ineffective, and it was subsequently overrun by Albrecht von Wallenstein during the Thirty Years' War . While George William had claimed neutrality before,

2144-455: A superior agency of the territories' Amtskammer chambers. The General War Commissariat ( Generalkriegskommissariat ) emerged as a second central agency, superior to the local Kriegskommissariat agencies initially concerned with the administration of the army, but until 1712 transformed into an agency also concerned with general tax and police tasks. In 1613, John Sigismund converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism , but failed to achieve

2278-401: A treaty was signed with the chiefs of Taccararay (now Takoradi ), some 30 kilometers east of Großfriedrichsburg. A fourth fort was built at a spring near the village of Taccrama , between Großfriedrichsburg and Dorotheenschanze, named Loge or Sophie-Louise-Schanze . Overall, the colony comprised roughly 50 kilometers of coastline, and did not extend into the hinterland. A second colony

2412-630: A victory. When the anti-Swedish coalition however gained the upper hand, Frederick William changed sides when Polish king John II Casimir Vasa confirmed his sovereignty in Prussia, but not in Ermland, in the Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg in 1657. The duchy would legally revert to Poland if the Hohenzollern dynastic line became extinct. Hohenzollern sovereignty in the Prussian duchy was confirmed in

2546-527: Is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald , in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Germany . It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait ) Peenestrom , vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can be accessed by road and railway via a movable bascule bridge ( Blaues Wunder ). In December 2004, the town had a population of 12,725. The precursor of present-day Wolgast

2680-539: The Battle of Stralsund Charles XII of Sweden led the defense until 22 December 1715, when he evacuated to Lund . In the Treaty of Stockholm , concluded on 21 January 1720, Prussia was allowed to retain its conquest, including Stettin. By this, Sweden ceded the parts east of the Oder River that had been won in 1648 as well as Western Pomerania south of the Peene river ( Old Western Pomerania or Altvorpommern ) and

2814-527: The County of Naugard . Furthermore, there were the ducal domains ("Amt") Kolbatz , Friedrichswalde , Marienfließ , Treptow , Stolp and Rügenwalde , and the towns of Pyritz , Stargard , Treptow an der Rega , Greifenberg , Belgard , Neustettin , Schlawe , Stolp , Rügenwalde , Kolberg and Köslin . The secularized territory of the Kammin diocese ("Stift Cammin") had a separate status. The population

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2948-870: The Duchy of Courland agreed on a partition of Tobago , but since Courland later abandoned the territory and thus was no longer present on the island, the agreement was nullified, and negotiations with the English government which had interests in Tobago did not result in an agreement. In 1695, Brandenburg-Prussia attempted to acquire Tortola from England via diplomacy, but the negotiations went nowhere, and were eventually called off. Likewise, England declined an offer to purchase Sint Eustatius in 1697. 52°31′N 13°24′E  /  52.517°N 13.400°E  / 52.517; 13.400 Wolgast Wolgast ( German pronunciation: [ˈvɔlˌɡast] )

3082-461: The Edict of Potsdam . Frederick William also started to centralize Brandenburg-Prussia's administration and reduce the influence of the outlying landed estates. In 1701 , Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , succeeded in elevating his status to the title of King in Prussia . This was made possible by the Duchy of Prussia 's sovereign status outside the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire of

3216-741: The Great Sleigh Drive . However, when Louis XIV of France concluded the Dutch War by the Nijmegen treaties , he marched his armies east to relieve his Swedish ally, and forced Frederick William to basically return to the status quo ante bellum by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) . Though the Scanian War resulted only in minor territorial gains, attaching a small strip of the Swedish Pomeranian right bank of

3350-696: The Habsburg emperor , with whom he concluded an alliance on 22 December 1686. For this alliance, Frederick William relinquished rights on Silesia in favor of the Habsburgs, and in turn received the Silesian County of Schwiebus which bordered the Neumark . Frederick III, present at the negotiations as crown prince, assured the Habsburgs of the continuation of the alliance once he was in power, and secretly concluded an amendment to return Schwiebus to

3484-671: The Habsburgs from their war against France . For this plan to work out, Poland-Lithuania had to first conclude her war against the Ottoman Empire , which French diplomacy despite great efforts failed to achieve. Furthermore, Sobieski was opposed by the Papacy , by Polish gentry who saw the Ottomans as the greater threat, and by Polish magnates bribed by Berlin and Vienna . Inner-Polish Catholic opposition to an intervention on

3618-592: The Kreditwerk came under the aegis of the elector. Frederick William's excise tax ( Akzise ), which since 1667 replaced the property tax raised in Brandenburg for Brandenburg-Prussia's standing army with the estates' consent, was raised by the elector without consultation of the estates. The conclusion of the Second Northern War had strengthened the elector politically, enabling him to reform

3752-586: The Lordship of Derenburg , the County of Regenstein , the Lordship of Klettenberg and the Lordship of Lohra . This was primarily due to French efforts to counterbalance the power of the Habsburg emperor by strengthening the Hohenzollern , and while Frederick William valued these territories lower than Western Pomerania, they became step-stones for the creation of a closed, dominant realm in Germany in

3886-608: The Peace of Oliva , which ended the war in 1660. Brandenburg-Prussian campaigns in Swedish Pomerania did not result in permanent gains. In 1672, the Franco-Dutch War broke out, with Brandenburg-Prussia involved as an ally of the Dutch Republic . This alliance was based on a treaty of 1669, and resulted in French occupation of Brandenburg-Prussian Cleves . In June 1673, Frederick William abandoned

4020-594: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth concluded the Treaty of Wehlau on 19 September 1657, and the subsequent Treaty of Bromberg . The Commonwealth therein gave Brandeburg-Prussia the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as a fief, and also pawned Draheim to Brandenburg. The Peace of Oliva on 3 May 1660, confirmed Brandenburg's rights in the Lauenburg and Bütow Land as well as in Draheim. Swedish Pomerania

4154-600: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the following year started the Second Northern War . Frederick William offered protection to the Royal Prussian towns in the Treaty of Rinsk , but had to yield Swedish military supremacy and withdraw to his Prussian duchy. Pursued by Swedish forces to the Prussian capital , Frederick William made peace and allied with Sweden, taking the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland (Ermeland, Warmia) as fiefs from Charles X Gustav of Sweden in

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4288-699: The Randowbruch and Uckermark regions were drained and settled with colonists from the Low Countries from 1718. In 1734 part of this region became therefore known as "Royal Holland". Dutch colonists were also settled in other parts of Pomerania. Also, Protestants from the otherwise Catholic Salzburg region arrived Prussia via the Pomeranian ports. While most went on to settle in other parts of Prussia, some settled in Pomerania. To improve access to

4422-415: The Second Northern War ( 1655 - 1660 ), the electors were also freed of old Polish vassalage and loyalty by the Treaty of Cracow gaining more independence for the Duchy of Prussia and gained territories of Lauenburg–Bütow and Draheim . The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) expanded the province of Brandenburgian Pomerania to the lower Oder River . The second half of the 17th century laid

4556-557: The Seven Years' War , the Inner Colonisation of Farther Pomerania had been begun by prince Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau . Brenckenhoff, after providing some humanitarian aid in 1763 (especially horses and wheat from the military and money for seed and life stock), introduced programs for financial aid, tax reduction, and low-rate credits and thus managed to have most of the farms that had been destroyed rebuild in 1764. In

4690-728: The State of the Teutonic Order . It was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was governed by Duke Albert of Prussia , a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern . On behalf of her mother Elisabeth of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern, Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg became Albert's second wife in 1550, and bore him his successor Albert Frederick . In 1563, the Brandenburgian branch of

4824-577: The Thirty Years' War , the Swedish Empire occupied Wolgast in 1630 and kept it as a part of Swedish Pomerania until 1815. Between the 1670s to 1720s, hundreds of male residents enlisted in the VOC and emigrated to South Africa . The former ducal palace decayed, and the town was burned down in 1713 by Russian forces during the Great Northern War , in retaliation for Swedish arson in Altona . Only

4958-797: The Treaty of Königsberg in January 1656. The alliance proved victorious in the Battle of Warsaw in June, enhancing the elector's international reputation. Continued pressure on Charles X Gustav resulted in him conceding full sovereignty in Ducal Prussia and Ermland to Frederick William by the Treaty of Labiau in November to ensure the maintenance of the alliance. The Treaty of Radnot , concluded in December by Sweden and her allies, further awarded Greater Poland to Brandenburg-Prussia in case of

5092-633: The Wappen von Brandenburg sold a barrel of brandy to Africans in a territory claimed by the Dutch West Indies Company , the latter confiscated the ship in March. The crew of the remaining ship Morian managed to have three Guinean chieftains sign a contract on 16 May, before the Dutch expelled the vessel from the coastal waters. This treaty, officially declared as trade agreement, included

5226-448: The kriegskommissar . Initially only active during wartime, it became a permanent institution in 1660. The Kriegskommissariat was subject only to the prince-elector (later king) and not to the provincial government. It was represented in the urban communities by "Steuerkommissar" and in the rural districts by "Kriegskommissar" (later "Kreisdirektor") officials. These commissioners collected contributions (war tax) and supervised garrison. Tus,

5360-461: The monarchy . Frederick William's testament would have divided Brandenburg-Prussia among his sons, yet firstborn Frederick III with the emperor's backing succeeded in becoming the sole ruler based on the Treaty of Gera , which forbade a division of Hohenzollern territories. In 1689, a new central chamber for all Brandenburg-Prussian territories was created, called Geheime Hofkammer (since 1713: Generalfinanzdirektorium ). This chamber functioned as

5494-403: The "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property. To reduce the influence of the estates, Joachim Frederick in 1604 created a council called Geheimer Rat für die Kurmark ("Privy Council for the Electorate"), which instead of the estates was to function as the supreme advisory council for the elector. While

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5628-508: The 19th century as a port for grain trade . In 1910 a Catholic Church was built for Polish workers Wolgast lost its status as a Kreis capital on 12 June 1994, when Kreis Wolgast was merged into Kreis Ostvorpommern , which became part of Vorpommern-Greifswald in 2011. The town's history is presented in the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum (Towns' historical museum) in a building at the market place nicknamed Kaffeemühle ( coffee grinder ). The former house of painter Philipp Otto Runge

5762-406: The Baltic Sea. The Treaty of Grimnitz (1529) guaranteed Brandenburgian succession in the Duchy of Pomerania upon the extinction of the local House of Pomerania , and would have come into effect by the death of Pomeranian duke Bogislaw XIV in 1637. By the Treaty of Stettin (1630) however, Bogislaw XIV had also effectively handed over control of the duchy to Sweden, who refused to give in to

5896-424: The Brandenburg-Prussian era into a system of provinces subordinate to the Stadtschloss, Berlin (Royal or Berlin Palace) in the capital city of Berlin . The Margraviate of Brandenburg had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were prince-electors in the Holy Roman Empire , since 1415. In 1525, by the Treaty of Krakow , the Duchy of Prussia was created through partial secularization of

6030-406: The Brandenburg-Prussian government with an attempt to establish the Geheimer Rat as a central authority for all territories in 1651, but this project proved to be unfeasible. Instead, the elector continued to appoint a governor ( Kurfürstlicher Rat ) for each territory, who in most cases was a member of the Geheimer Rat . The most powerful institution in the territories remained the governments of

6164-505: The Brandenburgian Uckermark in 1674, starting the German theater of the Scanian War (Brandenburg-Swedish War). Frederick William reacted promptly by marching his armies from the Rhine to northern Brandenburg, and encountered the rear of the Swedish army, which was in the process of crossing a swamp, in the Battle of Fehrbellin (1675). Though a minor skirmish from a military perspective, Frederick William's victory turned out to be of huge symbolic significance. The "Great Elector" started

6298-410: The Brandenburgian claim. The Peace of Westphalia settled for a partition of the duchy between Brandenburg and Sweden, who determined the exact border in the Treaty of Stettin (1653) . Sweden retained the western part including the lower Oder ( Swedish Pomerania ), while Brandenburg gained the eastern part ( Farther Pomerania ). Frederick William was dissatisfied by this outcome, and the acquisition of

6432-432: The Dutch alliance and concluded a subsidy treaty with France, who in return withdrew from Cleves. When the Holy Roman Empire declared war on France, a so-called Reichskrieg , Brandenburg-Prussia again changed sides and joined the imperial forces. France pressured her ally Sweden to relieve her by attacking Brandenburg-Prussia from the north. Charles XI of Sweden , dependent on French subsidies, reluctantly occupied

6566-443: The European royals ignored Brandenburg-Prussia's claims in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697). Frederick decided to raise the Duchy of Prussia to a kingdom. Within the Holy Roman Empire, no one could call himself king except the emperor and the king of Bohemia. However, Prussia was outside the empire, and the Hohenzollerns were fully sovereign over it. The practicability of this plan was doubted by some of his advisors, and in any case

6700-425: The French laid siege in March 1807 . Ferdinand von Schill was among the defendants. The siege was not successful and was lifted only when Prussia surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte in the Peace of Tilsit on 2 July. The terms of surrender included high war contributions (25,000,000 Taler from the Province of Pomerania alone). The agreed on withdrawal of the French troops was delayed repeatedly. In November 1808,

6834-617: The French troops left the province except for Stettin, which forced the provincial government to move to Stargard in 1809. The Kriegs- und Domänenkammer was renamed Royal-Prussian government ("Königlich Preußische Regierung"), while the former government ("Regierung") was renamed Supreme State Court ("Oberlandesgericht"). The reforms of vom Stein (1807) and Karl August von Hardenberg (1811) abolished serfdom . In 1812, French troops invaded Swedish Pomerania , and also occupied Prussian Pomerania again. The Prussian troops took quarter in Kolberg. After Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg , who commanded

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6968-448: The German Nation , and approval by the Royal House of Habsburg in Vienna in Austria , and the Holy Roman Emperor and other European royals in the course of forming alliances for the War of the Spanish Succession and the Great Northern War . From 1701 onward, the Hohenzollern dynasty domains were referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia , or simply Prussia. Legally, the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia continued until

7102-458: The Habsburgs, which he eventually did in 1694. Throughout his reign, Brandenburg-Prussia remained a Habsburg ally and repeatedly deployed troops to fight against France. In 1693, Frederick III began to sound out the possibility of an elevation of his status at the Habsburg court in Vienna , and while the first attempt was unsuccessful, elevation to a king remained the central goal on his agenda. The envisioned status elevation did not merely serve

7236-554: The Hohenzollern was granted the right of succession by the Polish crown. Albert Frederick became duke of Prussia after Albert's death in 1568. His mother died in the same year, and thereafter he showed signs of mental disorder. Because of the duke's illness, Prussia was governed by Albert's nephew George Frederick of Hohenzollern-Ansbach-Jägersdorf (1577–1603). In 1573, Albert Frederick married Marie Eleonore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg , with whom he had several daughters. In 1594, Albert Frederick's then 14-year-old daughter Anna married

7370-402: The Kriegskommisariat became a central institution in the province's financial and economical administration. In 1714, the former position of "Landrat" was abolished, and replaced with that of "Prussian Landrat". The office was assigned to the former Kreisdirektor. Already before the reform, the positions of Kreisdirektor (initially Kriegskommissar) and Landrat of a district had often been held by

7504-437: The Netherlands, and in 1646 married educated Luise Henriette of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau . After the Thirty Years' War , Frederick William tried to acquire finances to rebuild the country by participating in oversea trade, and attempted to found a Brandenburg-Prussian East Indies Company. He engaged former Dutch admiral Aernoult Gijsels van Lier as advisor and tried to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor and princes of

7638-443: The Palatinate, Mecklenburg and Poland. In 1786, the population of Prussian Pomerania ( Farther Pomerania and Western Pomerania south of the Peene river) reached 438,700. After Prussia lost the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in late 1806, French troops marched north into the Pomeranian province. Fortified Stettin surrendered without battle, and the province became occupied by the French forces. Only fortified Kolberg resisted, and

7772-533: The Palatinate, while the Bohemians soon returned to their homeland as a result of housing shortages. In 1750, recruitment of settlers started in Danzig , Elbing , Warsaw , Augsburg , Frankfurt am Main , Nuremberg , Hamburg and Brussels . Protestant craftsmen from Roman Catholic Poland settled in the towns. The colonists were freed of certain taxes and services such as military service. Between 1740 and 1784, 26,000 colonists arrived in Prussian Pomerania, and 159 new villages were founded. Most colonists originated in

7906-462: The Polish–Lithuanian nobility accept Frederick's royal status, seeing the Polish province of Royal Prussia endangered, and only in 1764 was the Prussian kingship accepted. Since Brandenburg was still legally part of the Holy Roman Empire, the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia technically continued until the empire's dissolution in 1806. However, the emperor's power was only nominal by this time, and Brandenburg soon came to be treated as

8040-516: The Protestant Hungarian rebels' side added to the resentments. Thus, while Treaty of Żurawno ended the Polish-Ottoman war in 1676, Sobieski sided with the emperor instead, and the plan for a Prussian campaign was dropped. By 1678, Frederick William had cleared Swedish Pomerania and occupied most of it , with the exception of Rügen which was held by Denmark–Norway . This was followed by another success against Sweden, when Frederick William cleared Prussia of Swedish forces in what became known as

8174-468: The Swedish defense in Pomerania in person. In turn, Holstein's forces in Stettin were arrested as a Swedish ally by Prussia. In February 1715, Charles seized Wolgast in an advance to reestablish Swedish control in Western Pomerania . On 1 May 1715, Prussia officially declared war on Sweden. In the same month, Hanover and Denmark joined the Russian-Prussian treaty of 1714. The allied forces subsequently occupied all of Pomerania except for Stralsund . In

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8308-405: The area . In 1177, another Danish assault on Wolgast failed, but a campaign in 1179 was successful, though the Danish fleet accepted money instead of a surrender. In 1184, Wolgast was unsuccessfully besieged by the Danes, but finally came under Danish control in 1185 when the Pomeranian duke accepted Danish suzerainty. While the Danes lost control over most of Pomerania in 1227, Wolgast remained

8442-401: The army independently of the estates. By 1688, these military costs amounted to considerable 1,500,000 talers or half of the state budget. Ensuring a solid financial basis for the army, undisturbed by the estates, was the foremost objective of Frederick William's administrative reforms. He regarded military success as the only way to gain international reputation. The Swedish invasion of

8576-418: The basis for Prussia to become one of the great players in European politics. The emerging Brandenburg-Prussian military potential, based on the introduction of a standing army in 1653 , was symbolized by the widely noted victories in the Battle of Warsaw in 1656 and Battle of Fehrbellin ( 1675 ) and by the Great Sleigh Drive ( 1678 ). Brandenburg-Prussia also established a Brandenburg Navy for on

8710-460: The belligerents, and Jülich-Berg was since ruled by the Catholic counts of Palatinate-Neuburg . After the Thirty Years' War , Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg , disregarded a 1647 agreement with Frederick William which had favored the Protestants in the duchies, while Frederick William insisted that the agreement be upheld. Besides these religious motives, Frederick William's invasion also aimed at territorial expansion. The conflict had

8844-420: The church, four chapels and four more buildings were spared by the fire. Most houses of the Old Town therefore date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the townhall was renewed after the fire in baroque style. After the Swedish withdrawal from Pomerania in 1815, the city was integrated into the Prussian Province of Pomerania . Last remnants of the palace were removed in 1849. Wolgast prospered throughout

8978-514: The company was underfunded, and expeditions were financed also by private capital, including payments by Raule and Frederick William. In July 1682, an expedition under East Prussian Otto Friedrich von der Groeben was sent to Guinea to erect the fortress Großfriedrichsburg . On 24 February 1684, another treaty with indigenous chiefs was signed that allowed the erection of a second fort in nearby Accada (now Akwida ), named Dorotheenschanze after Frederick William's second wife. On 4 February 1685,

9112-443: The consent and necessary financial contributions of the estates in a landtag decree of 26 July 1653. In turn, he confirmed several privileges of the knights, including tax exemption, assertion of jurisdiction and police powers on their estates ( Patrimonialgerichtsbarkeit ) and the upholding of serfdom ( Leibeigenschaft , Bauernlegen ). Initially, the estates' contributions were limited to six years, yet Frederick William obliged

9246-401: The constitution of Cleves and Mark in 1660 and 1661 to introduce officials loyal to him and independent of the local estates. In the Duchy of Prussia, he confirmed the traditional privileges of the estates in 1663, but the latter accepted the caveat that these privileges were not to be used to interfere with the exertion of the elector's sovereignty. As in Brandenburg, Frederick William ignored

9380-425: The context of the battle of Verchen , a Danish force under Wetheman took control of Wolgast, and left it to a mixed Rani-Pomeranian-Obrodite garrison after peace was restored. Yet, the Rani (the Danish allies) were soon expelled by the Pomeranians, and the Obodrites (also Danish allies) left the scene. The Danes attacked Wolgast again in the summer of 1167, and again either in late 1167 or in 1168, and devastated

9514-476: The conversion of the estates by the rule of cuius regio, eius religio . Thus, on 5 February 1615, he granted the Lutherans religious freedom, while the Elector's court remained largely Calvinist. When Frederick William I rebuilt Brandenburg-Prussia's war-torn economy, he attracted settlers from all Europe, especially by offering religious asylum, most prominently by the Edict of Potsdam which attracted more than 15,000 Huguenots . Brandenburg-Prussia established

9648-480: The council was permanently established in 1613, it failed to gain any influence until 1651 due to the Thirty Years' War . Until after the Thirty Years' War, the territories of Brandenburg-Prussia were politically independent from each other, connected only by the common feudal superior. Frederick William , who envisioned the transformation of the personal union into a real union , started to centralize

9782-707: The crown was only valuable if recognized by the European nobility, most important the Holy Roman Emperor . In 1699, negotiations were renewed with emperor Leopold I , who in turn was in need of allies since the War of the Spanish Succession was about to break out. On 16 November 1700, the emperor approved Frederick's coronation in the Crown Treaty . With respect to Poland-Lithuania , who held

9916-515: The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. However, by this time the emperor's overlordship over the empire had become in recent decades of a "figleaf" legal fiction . Hence, after 1701, Brandenburg was de facto treated as part of the Prussian kingdom. Frederick and his successors continued to centralize and expand the state, transforming the personal union of politically diverse principalities typical for

10050-624: The domains), a "Hofgericht" (court) and a " Konsistorium " (ecclesiastical administration). The first president was Ewald von Kleist . Because the president was also occupied with diplomatic missions and representation of the province in Berlin, the chancellor was instead supervising the province's administration. The province was divided into seven knightly districts, also the territories of eight local noble houses (Flemming, Borcke, Wedel, Dewitz, Osten-Blücher, Manteuffel and Glasenapp, so-called "schloßgesessene Familien", i.e. palace-owning families), and

10184-466: The east side of the Oder, except for Gollnow and Altdamm , was given to Brandenburg. Gollnow and Altdamm were held by Brandenburg as a pawn in exchange for reparations, until these were paid in 1693. During the Great Northern War , Stettin was sieged by Russian and Saxon forces led by prince Menschikov , and surrendered on 29 September. According to the Treaty of Schwedt on 6 October, Menschikov

10318-410: The elector approved. In July 1680, Frederick William issued respective orders, and two ships were selected to establish trade contacts with African tribes and explore places where colonies could be established. On 17 September, frigate Wappen von Brandenburg ("Seal of Brandenburg") and Morian (poetic for "Mohr", "Negro") left for Guinea. The ships reached Guinea in January 1681. Since the crew of

10452-618: The elector introduced an Akzise to Pomerania and in 1688 to Magdeburg, while in Cleves and Mark an Akzise was introduced only between 1716 and 1720. Due to Frederick William's reforms, the state income increased threefold during his reign, and the tax burden per subject reached a level twice as high as in France . Under the rule of Frederick III (I) , the Brandenburg Prussian territories were de facto reduced to provinces of

10586-454: The empire to participate. The emperor, however, declined the request as he considered it dangerous to disturb the interest of the other European powers. In 1651, Frederick William bought Danish Fort Dansborg and Tranquebar for 120,000 reichstalers . As Frederick William was unable to raise this sum, he asked several people and Hanseatic towns to invest in the project, but since none of these were able or willing to give sufficient money,

10720-665: The estates ( Landständische Regierung , named Oberratsstube in Prussia and Geheime Landesregierung in Mark and Cleves), which were the highest government agencies regarding jurisdiction, finances and administration. The elector attempted to balance the estates' governments by creating Amtskammer chambers to administer and coordinate the elector's domains, tax income and privileges. Such chambers were introduced in Brandenburg in 1652, in Cleves and Mark in 1653, in Pomerania in 1654, in Prussia in 1661 and in Magdeburg in 1680. Also in 1680,

10854-598: The estates to continue the payments thereafter and created a dedicated office to collect the contributions. The contributions were confirmed by the estates in 1662, but transformed in 1666 by decree from a real estate tax to an excise tax. Since 1657, the towns had to contribute not soldiers, but monetary payments to the army, and since 1665, the estates were able to free themselves from contributing soldiers by additional payments. The initial army size of 8,000 men had risen to 25,000 to 30,000 men by 1688. By then, Frederick William had also accomplished his second goal, to finance

10988-686: The forces of the Swedish Empire dominated Northern Germany, and along with her ally France , Sweden became guarantee power of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Swedish aim of controlling the Baltic Sea by establishing dominions on the coastline (" dominium maris baltici ") thwarted Frederick William's ambitions to gain control over the Oder estuary with Stettin (Szczecin) in Pomerania . The Brandenburgian margraves had long sought to expand northwards , connecting land-locked Brandenburg to

11122-621: The formerly exclusive club of the prince-electors now had nine members, six of whom were secular princes, and further changes seemed possible. Within the circle of prince-electors, August the Strong , Elector of Saxony , had secured the Polish crown in 1697, and the House of Hanover had secured succession of the British throne . From Frederick III's perspective, stagnation in status meant loss of power, and this perspective seemed to be confirmed when

11256-451: The fort soon after. On 27 July 1685, an expedition was mounted by Frederick William and Raule, who took possession of the vacated colony on 1 October. Subsequently, the fort was rebuilt and contacts to the indigenous population established. France was alarmed and sent a vessel to re-conquer the fort in late 1687, but the attack of a French frigate and a smaller vessel was beaten back by the Brandenburg-Prussian garrison. The victory improved

11390-469: The future. The Electors of Brandenburg inherited the Duchy of Prussia upon Albert Frederick's death in 1618, but the duchy continued to be held as a fief under the Polish Crown until 1656/7. Since John Sigismund had suffered a stroke in 1616 and as a consequence was severely handicapped physically as well as mentally, his wife Anna ruled the Duchy of Prussia in his name until John Sigismund died of

11524-461: The intermarriage between the nobility was the acquisition / incorporation of the lands far to the west of Brandenburg-Prussia located in western Germany of the Holy Roman Empire (A.D. c. 800 / 962 to 1806), and situated in the lower Rhenish / Rhine River of the principalities of the Duchy of Cleves , County of Mark and County of Ravensberg after the signing and agreements in the Treaty of Xanten in 1614 . The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)

11658-449: The island in 1735. Their last remains were sold by auction in 1738. Brandenburg-Prussia tried to claim Crab Island in 1687, but the island was also claimed by other European powers beforehand, and when a second expedition in 1692 found the island under Danish control, the plan was abandoned. In 1689, Brandenburg-Prussia claimed Peter Island , but the small rock proved unsuitable for trade or settlement. In 1691, Brandenburg-Prussia and

11792-475: The islands of Wollin and Usedom to Brandenburg-Prussia in turn for a 2 million Taler payment. The capital was then moved to Stettin . After the Battle of Zorndorf in 1759 ( Seven Years' War ), Russian troops made their way into Pomerania and laid a siege on Kolberg . When Kolberg withstood, the Russian troops ravaged Farther Pomerania . Sweden and Russia invaded Brandenburgian Pomerania throughout

11926-503: The land at a sea . Farther Pomerania was made a province of Prussia ( Brandenburg-Prussia ) after the Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648. During the war, the noble House of Pomerania ( Griffins ), ruling Pomerania since the 1120s as Dukes of Pomerania , became extinct in the male line with the death of Bogislaw XIV in 1637. Throughout the existence of the Griffin duchy, Brandenburg claimed overlordship and

12060-401: The long run. Of all Brandenburg-Prussian territories, the Electorate of Brandenburg was among the most devastated at the end of the Thirty Years' War. Already before the war, the population density and wealth in the electorate had been low compared to other territories of the empire, and the war had destroyed 60 towns, 48 castles and about 5,000 villages. An average of 50% of the population

12194-567: The lower Oder to Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania , the war resulted in a huge gain of prestige for the elector. Frederick III of Brandenburg , since 1701 also Frederick I of Prussia , was born in Königsberg in 1657. Already in the last years of the reign of his father, the friendly relations with France established after Saint Germain (1679) had cooled, not least because of the Huguenot question . In 1686, Frederick William turned toward

12328-502: The main Brandenburg-Prussian naval base. From Pillau, part of the shipyard, the admiral's house and the wooden church of the employees was transferred to Emden. While Emden was not part of Brandenburg-Prussia, the elector owned a nearby castle, Greetsiel , and negotiated an agreement with the town to maintain a garrison and a port. In 1679, Raule presented Frederick William a plan to establish colonies in African Guinea , and

12462-480: The major figure of Brandenburg-Prussia's emerging naval and colonial enterprise. The Brandenburg-Prussian navy was established from ten ships which Frederick William leased from Raule, and achieved first successes in the war against Sweden supporting the siege of Stralsund and Stettin and the invasion of Rügen . In Pillau (now Baltiysk) on the East Prussian coast, Raule established shipyards and enlarged

12596-479: The margrave's finances were controlled by the Kreditwerk , an institution not controlled by the elector, and the Großer Ausschuß ("Great Committee") of the estates. This was due to concessions made by Joachim II in 1541 in turn for financial aid by the estates, however, the Kreditwerk went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield the veto of the estates in all issues concerning

12730-557: The mid-18th century to reach the pre-war population density. In June 1651, Frederick William broke the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia by invading Jülich-Berg , bordering his possessions in Cleves-Mark at the lower Rhine river. The Treaty of Xanten , which had ended the War of the Jülich succession between Brandenburg and the count palatines in 1614, had partitioned the once united Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg among

12864-401: The name), it considerably lowered Frederick William's reputation. Due to his wartime experiences, Frederick William was convinced that Brandenburg-Prussia would only prevail with a standing army . Traditionally, raising and financing army reserves was a privilege of the estates, yet Frederick William envisioned a standing army financed independently of the estates. He succeeded in getting

12998-711: The nearby waters of the Baltic Sea , Gulf of Finland and passages west to the North Sea with access to the North Atlantic Ocean and additional German colonies were established along the Brandenburger Gold Coast and Arguin . Frederick William , known as "The Great Elector", opened up his realm of Brandenburg-Prussia to large-scale immigration (" Peuplierung ") of mostly Protestant refugees from all across Europe (" Exulanten "), most notably Huguenot immigration from France following

13132-405: The new elector retired the Brandenburgian army, but had an army raised again in 1643/44. Whether or not Frederick William concluded a truce and neutrality agreement with Sweden is disputed: while a relevant 1641 document exists, it was never ratified and has repeatedly been described as a falsification. However, it is not disputed that he established the growth of Brandenburg-Prussia. At the time,

13266-572: The other major cities were in ruins, and recovery took decades. By the Peace of Westphalia , which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648 , Brandenburg also gained the Bishopric of Minden and Principality of Halberstadt , also the succession in the Farther Pomerania (incorporated in the Treaty of Stettin of 1653 ), and the Duchy of Magdeburg (incorporated later in 1680 ). With the Treaty of Bromberg (1657), these concluded during

13400-489: The population survived , and Magdeburg , once among the wealthiest cities of the empire, was burned down with most of the population slain . Least hit were the Duchy of Prussia , which was only peripherally involved in the war , and Minden . In 1670, the Great Elector invited Jews expelled from Vienna to settle in Brandenburg. Despite efforts to resettle the devastated territories, it took some of them until

13534-483: The port facilities. After the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) , the navy was used to hijack Swedish ships in the Baltic Sea , and in 1680, six Brandenburg-Prussian vessels captured the Spanish vessel Carolus Secundus near Ostend to pressure Spain to pay promised subsidies. The Spanish ship was renamed Markgraf von Brandenburg ("Margrave of Brandenburg") and became the flagship of an Atlantic fleet that

13668-558: The port of Stettin , the Swine river was deepened and Swinemünde was founded on the river's mouth in 1748. A similar project in Stolp failed due to financial shortfalls. Throughout the 1750s, the vast Oderbruch swamps were drained to provide farmland. King Frederick the Great appointed Franz Balthasar von Brenckenhoff to rebuild the war-torn Prussian portion of Pomerania. Even before

13802-454: The potential to spark another international war since Wolfgang William wanted to have the still not demobilized army of Lorraine , which continued to operate in the region despite the Peace of Westphalia, to intervene on his side, and Frederick William sought support of the Dutch Republic . The latter however followed a policy of neutrality and refused to aid Frederick William's campaign, which

13936-626: The presence of Wallenstein's army forced him to join the Catholic-Imperial camp in the Treaty of Königsberg (1627) and accept garrisons. When the Swedish Empire entered the war and advanced into Brandenburg , George William again claimed neutrality, yet Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden compelled George William to join Sweden as an ally by occupying substantial territory in Brandenburg-Prussia and concentrating an army before

14070-405: The privilege of the Prussian estates to confirm or veto taxes raised by the elector: while in 1656, an Akzise was raised with the estates' consent, the elector by force collected taxes not approved by the Prussian estates for the first time in 1674. Since 1704, the Prussian estates had de facto relinquished their right to approve the elector's taxes while formally still entitled to do so. In 1682,

14204-578: The province except for justice (that was within the responsibility of the government and the court) and ecclesial administration (handled by the Konsistorium). A second chamber (though under superiority of the Stettin chamber) was set up in 1764 in Köslin for the eastern districts. On 15 September 1733, Prussian king Frederick William I ordered another administrative reform. The most important change

14338-470: The provinces of Royal Prussia and Ermland , it was agreed that Frederick would call himself King in Prussia , instead of King of Prussia. Great Britain and the Dutch Republic , for similar reasons as the emperor, accepted Frederick's elevation prior to the coronation. On 17 January 1701, Frederick dedicated the royal coat of arms, the Prussian black eagle, and motto, " suum cuique ". On 18 January, he crowned himself and his wife Sophie Charlotte in

14472-549: The relations to the indigenous people, many of whom were carried off as slaves by the French before. While Arguin did not reach the economic importance of Großfriedrichsburg, it temporarily advanced to the world's primary staple port for slaves. The African colonies enabled Brandenburg-Prussia to participate in the Triangular trade , yet it lacked its own trading post in the Caribbean Sea . In 1684, Brandenburg-Prussia

14606-424: The same man. Based on an order of Prussian king Frederick William I , Amtskammer and Kriegskommissariat were fused into the "Kriegs- und Domänenkammer" (war and domain chamber), in 1722. This new chamber moved from Stargard , which had been capital since 1668, to Stettin , which had been acquired by Prussia and merged into the Pomeranian province in 1720. The chamber was responsible for all administrative fields of

14740-488: The son of Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg , John Sigismund . The marriage ensured the right of succession in the Prussian duchy as well as in Cleves . Upon George Frederick's death in 1603, the regency of the Prussian duchy passed to Joachim Frederick. Also in 1603, the Treaty of Gera was concluded by the members of the House of Hohenzollern , ruling that their territories were not to be internally divided in

14874-418: The town walls of Berlin . George William did not conclude an alliance, but granted Sweden transit rights, two fortresses and subsidies. Consequently, Roman Catholic armies repeatedly ravaged Brandenburg and other Hohenzollern lands. During the Thirty Years' War , George William was succeeded by Frederick William , born 1620, who became known as "The Great Elector" ( Der Große Kurfürst ). The character of

15008-519: The treaty with Denmark was nullified in 1653. In 1675, after the victory at Fehrbellin and the Brandenburg-Prussian advance in Swedish Pomerania during the Scanian War , Frederick William decided to establish a navy. He engaged Dutch merchant and shipowner Benjamin Raule as his advisor, who after a first personal meeting with Frederick William in 1675 settled in Brandenburg in 1676 and became

15142-494: The war, Prussia after diplomatic efforts of Hardenberg in the Congress of Vienna gained Swedish Pomerania by paying 2,6 million Taler to Denmark and granting her the Duchy of Lauenburg , and paying an additional 3,5 million Taler to Sweden on 7 June 1815. On 23 October, Swedish Pomerania was merged into the Prussian province, both now constituting the Province of Pomerania . Brandenburg-Prussia Another consequence of

15276-406: The whole Duchy of Pomerania was to become one of the main goals of his foreign policy. In the Peace of Westphalia, Frederick William was compensated for Western Pomerania with the secularized bishoprics of Halberstadt and Minden and the right of succession to the likewise secularized Archbishopric of Magdeburg . With Halberstadt, Brandenburg-Prussia also gained several smaller territories:

15410-456: The years 1760 and 1761. Kolberg was again made a target, withstood a second siege, but not the third one in 1761 . In the winter of the same year, the Russian troops made Farther Pomerania their winter refuge. In 1762, Prussia made peace with Sweden and Russia. The province of Pomerania was left ravaged and the civilian death toll amounted to 72,000. About 20 percent of the population in the province of Pomerania died, atrocities were committed and

15544-528: The years following, new farmland was made available by clearance of woodlands and draining of swamps (e.g. Thurbruch , Plönebruch , Schmolsiner Bruch ) and lakes (e.g. Madüsee , Neustettiner See ) as well as levee construction at some rivers (e.g. Ihna , Łeba ). To compensate for the wartime population losses, new colonists were attracted. In the 1740s, colonists were invited from the Palatinate , Württemberg , Mecklenburg and Bohemia . Most came from

15678-423: The young elector had been stamped by his Calvinist nurturer Calcum , a long stay in the Dutch Republic during his grand tour , and the events of the war, of which a meeting with his uncle Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in Pomerania was among the most impressive. Frederick William took over Brandenburg-Prussia in times of a political, economical and demographic crisis caused by the war. Upon his succession,

15812-458: Was a Slavic Wendish stronghold located on an island within the Peenestrom sound. Contemporary sources called it Hologost(a), Ologost, Woligost, Woligast, Wologost, Wolegast, Wolegust, Walagost(um), Walogost(um), Waløgost(um), Waloguslum, Walagust, Walegusth, Walægust, Walgust, Wolgast, Valagust, Wołogoszcz or Valegust . Wilhelm Ferdinand Gadebusch traces the name through Wendish to mean

15946-486: Was allotted an area near the capital city Charlotte Amalie , called Brandenburgery , and other territories named Krum Bay and Bordeaux Estates further west. In 1688, 300 Europeans and several hundred slaves lived on the Brandenburgian estates. In November 1695, French forces looted the Brandenburgian (not the Danish) colony. In 1731, the Brandenburg-Prussian company on Saint Thomas (BAAC) became insolvent, and abandoned

16080-424: Was also present in the stronghold. During this time, there was an influx of thousands of Low German settlers from Groningen and Drenthe . In this context, Wolgast was described as a opulentissima civitas by the chronicler Ebo, it is however unclear whether this should be read as meaning opulent or mighty "castle" or "town". Otto destroyed a local temple devoted to Gerowit , a god of war, and replaced it with

16214-433: Was asserted of Pomerania inheritance in numerous treaties. Yet, Sweden had been one of the most important players in the war and as such, it was awarded some of its territorial gains in Pomerania ( Swedish Pomerania ), after the war by the Peace of Westphalia, thwarting Brandenburg-Prussia's ambitions for inheritance of the whole former Duchy of Pomerania. During the Second Northern War (1654–1660), Brandenburg-Prussia and

16348-410: Was dead, in some regions only 10% survived. The rural population, due to deaths and flight to the towns, had dropped from 300,000 before the war to 75,000 thereafter. In the important towns of Berlin-Cölln and Frankfurt an der Oder , the population drop was one third and two-thirds, respectively. Some of the territories gained after the war were likewise devastated: in Pomerania , only one third of

16482-613: Was denied the purchase of the French islands Sainte Croix and Saint Vincent . In November 1685, after a failed attempt to purchase Saint Thomas from Denmark–Norway , a Brandenburg-Danish agreement was reached that allowed the Brandenburg African Company to rent part of Saint Thomas as a base for 30 years, while the sovereignty remained with Denmark and administration with the Danish West Indies and Guinean Company . The first Brandenburgian vessel arrived in 1686 with 450 slaves from Großfriedrichsburg . Brandenburg-Prussia

16616-472: Was especially devastating. The Elector changed sides three times, and as a result Protestant groups of Evangelical Lutheran / Reformed / Calvinist and opposing Roman Catholic armies swept the lands back and forth, killing, burning, seizing men and confiscating any food or useful supplies. It is estimated that upwards of half the population of Central Europe / Germany of the late Medieval / Middle Ages period were killed or dislocated. Berlin and

16750-594: Was established at the Arguin archipelago off the West African coast (now part of Mauritania ). In contrast to the Guinean colony, Arguin had been a colony before: In 1520, Portugal had built a fort on the main island, which with all of Portugal came under Spanish control in 1580. In 1638 it was conquered by the Dutch Republic , and in 1678 by France , who due to high maintenance costs abandoned it and demolished

16884-515: Was furthermore opposed by the Imperial estates as well as the local ones. Politically isolated, Frederick William aborted the campaign after the Treaty of Cleves negotiated by Imperial mediators in October 1651. The underlying religious dispute was only solved in 1672. While military confrontations were avoided and the Brandenburg-Prussian army was primarily occupied with stealing cattle (hence

17018-408: Was made the new capital. Troops were to be permanently garrisoned in the town, this was to be paid for by the province. The province was to be governed by a "Regierung" (government, led by a president and a chancellor, four other members, general administration, in charge of the police, border patrol, enforcement of ducal rights), a "Kammer" (chamber, also "Amtskammer"), a "Rentei", for administration of

17152-465: Was not accepted by the Teutonic Order , who despite the secularization of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 upheld claims to the region. The Grand Master protested at the emperor's court, and the pope sent a circular to all Catholic regents to not accept Frederick's royal status. Until 1787, papal documents continued to speak of the Prussian kings as "Margraves of Brandenburg". Neither did

17286-535: Was occupied by Denmark and Brandenburg in the Brandenburg-Swedish theater of the Scanian War from 1675 to 1679, whereby Denmark claimed Rügen and Brandenburg the rest of Pomerania . Sweden reestablished control after the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 28 June 1679. This tempted Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg , to utter " Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor! [Let someone arise from my bones as an avenger]". The strip of land on

17420-461: Was ordered to capture Spanish vessels carrying silver; it was not successful in this mission. In the following years, the navy was expanded, and the policy of leasing ships was replaced by the policy of building or purchasing them. On 1 October 1684 Frederick William bought all ships that had been leased for 110,000 talers . Also in 1684, the East Frisian port of Emden replaced Pillau as

17554-586: Was paid his war costs by Prussia , and Stettin was occupied by Holstein and Brandenburg troops. On 12 June 1714, king Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg-Prussia concluded a treaty with the Russian Empire confirming her gains in Swedish Ingermanland , Karelia and Estonia , and in turn received Russian confirmation of his gains in southern Swedish Pomerania. On 22 November 1714, King Charles XII of Sweden returned from Turkey to lead

17688-431: Was permanent. Also, the rural nobility was enlisted into the army as potential officers. Those chosen (by the king himself) for a military career were trained in Berlin, and received not only military, but a broad education. After the great losses of the previous wars, Prussia began rebuilding and resettling her war-torn province in 1718. Programs were devised for financial aid to rebuild houses, e.g. people were paid 23% of

17822-400: Was represented in the "Landständische Vertretung" by 25 " Landrat " officials. The knightly districts assigned nine, the noble families six, the towns five and Stift Cammin also five. The prince-elector had to approve the assignments. Brandenburg-Prussia set up a combined military institution, the war commissionary for her Pomeranian province and Neumark . It was led by Wedego von Bonin as

17956-409: Was the application of the "Kantonsreglement" order. This order split the province into small military districts ("Kanton") based on the civilian ones. All peasants of a canton were enrolled by the Prussian army, and assigned to the Prussian infantry units Infanterieregiment 7, 8, 17, 22 or 30 , or the cavalry units Dragonerregiment 1, 2 or 5 . The enrollment did not depend on actual warfare, but

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